School Improvement in Maryland

Public Release Item: Public Release items have appeared on HSA forms and then are released for public viewing and use. Releasing items is one step to ensuring that schools, districts, and other stakeholders understand how the core learning goals are assessed on the HSA.

Goal 1 Reading, Reviewing and Responding to Texts

Expectation 1.1 The student will use effective strategies before, during, and after reading, viewing, and listening to self-selected and assigned materials.

Indicator 1.1.1 The student will use pre-reading strategies appropriate to both the text and purpose for reading by surveying the text, accessing prior knowledge, formulating questions, setting purpose(s), and making predictions.

Assessment Limits:

  • Recognizing the implications of text features
  • Linking appropriate experiences and prior knowledge about the topic, author, or type of material to the text
  • Identifying an appropriate purpose for reading the text
  • Identifying questions a reader would expect to be answered by reading the text
  • Identifying topics of discussion that may enhance a reader's understanding of a text

Selected Response Item - Released in 2005

Read the essay "In the Country of Grasses." Then answer the following.

Skimming which of these books would best prepare a reader to understand what the author describes in the essay?

  1. Large Prey Animals Around the World
  2. Lions and Tigers and Bears: Fear of the Wild
  3. Africa in the Nineteenth Century: The Colonial Experience
  4. An Illustrated Guide to the Wildlife of Africa
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2005_111_eng34.xml

Correct Answer:
D

Selected Response Item - Released in 2006

Read the poem “Foul Shot.” Then answer Numbers 21 through 23.

Read the poem “Foul Shot.” Then answer the following:

Which feature most clearly identifies “Foul Shot” as a poem?

  1. the title of the text
  2. the length of the text
  3. the opening line of the text
  4. the arrangement of the text
/share/clg/xml/public_release/english/2006_111_eng21.xml

Correct Answer:
D